The Supreme Court on September 24, 2026, gave the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice one final opportunity to explain what steps they have taken to curb the spread of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) on social media platforms. The court also asked both ministries to set out the preventive measures they plan to put in place to stop such lapses by intermediaries in the future.
The matter will next be heard on October 15.
Court questions delay in government's response
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran had issued notice on August 14 on an application filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA) and Bachpan Bachao Andolan. The application followed a media report alleging that Instagram had carried paid advertisements promoting CSEAM, and raised concerns over whether social media intermediaries were complying with the Supreme Court's earlier directions and their obligations under the law.
When the matter came up on Wednesday, Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj sought more time to file a reply on behalf of the two ministries, saying the government was working on it and ...